My wife and I will never forget the date of March 18th, 2018, or the time – 6:30pm. We waited the hour with great trepidation and gut wrenching sadness, while trying to act normal for Harvey, our lovely dog of 16 years who was 18 years old and suffering from cervical disk disease. We fed him cookies and anything he wanted. We laid with him on the floor and petted him and loved on him. We allowed him to sleep. He had good days and horrible days filled with pain. Today was looking to be a good day and we started to panic. Were we doing the right thing? Was it too soon? My wife and I, not wanting to cry in front of each other and cause even more suffering, went into separate bedrooms at one point. We would find out later that both of us had dropped to our knees and prayed through our sobs that God give us a sign the time was right. When the door rang at 6:30pm, Dr. Kimberly came in. There were already tears in her eyes and the reason is one that will stick with me forever. To her right were two rainbows, both of which could be easily seen from the room we decided to let Harvey finally have rest. His favorite room with a view of the hills. When we saw the rainbows, my wife and I were speechless. The guilt part of the decision would never be something either of us would struggle with. I have never seen a rainbow since I moved to Austin 11 years ago. I have not seen a rainbow in the past fifteen years, and yet here were two. God had answered our prayers and I praise Him for giving us this peace.
Dr. Kimberly is a very kind, gentle soul and handled Harvey with the greatest tenderness. The first shot put him into a deep sleep and the second, when it ended his life, was peaceful. There was nothing about the procedure that upset us, and though we were prepared for the normal body reactions to take place, knowing they were not a sign of pain, but just how a body reacts upon death – our beautiful lovely boy had none of this. Harvey passed away peacefully at around 7:00pm. A few days later and the grief is still strong, but the rainbows took the guilt. I know he is in a better place and my wife and I will see him again one day, but the pain is going to take a very long time to dissipate into something tolerable. Still, I would not give up one minute of my boy’s life to remove this pain. With great love comes great loss, but not knowing Harvey would have been an even greater loss, as I can look back at what he offered to my wife and I and know we would be very different people if not for him. Rest in peace our beautiful boy. Your uniqueness made you stand out, your death was a good death, and your life a book filled with wonderful chapters. The world seems dimmer without you, the sky less blue; the colors faded. They will get bright again, but you will never be forgotten. Good by my friend.
